How to Design

and Evaluate
Research in Education
EIGHTH EDITION

Jack R. Fraenkel
San Francisco State University

Norman E. Wallen
San Francisco State University

Helen H. Hyun
San Francisco State University

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fraenkel, Jack R., 1932–

How to design and evaluate research in education / Jack Fraenkel,
Norman Wallen, Helen, Hyun. — 8th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-07-809785-0 (hardback)
ISBN-10: 0-07-809785-1
1. Education—Research—Methodology. 2. Education—Research—Evaluation.
3. Proposal writing in educational research. I. Wallen, Norman E.
II. Hyun, Helen. III. Title.
LB1028.F665 2011
370.72—dc22
2010051892

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www.mhhe.com
 CHAPTER 6 Sampling 97

In a school district (population)

composed of 50 schools, 10 schools
are randomly selected, and then all
3 of the teachers in each school are
2 5
selected.
4 18
1 6 11

8 10
19

13 20
14
15 26
2 25
1
22 23 24
28 27
40
29 30
31 32
33 38
41 35
39
34 36 48
37
42

46 49
43 44 45 47 50

All teachers in the selected schools are interviewed

Figure 6.3 Cluster Random Sampling

Many beginning researchers make a common error
with regard to cluster random sampling: randomly
selecting only one cluster as a sample and then observ-
ing or interviewing all individuals within that cluster.
Even if there is a large number of individuals within
the cluster, it is the cluster that has been randomly
selected,
rather than individuals; hence the researcher is not en-
titled to draw conclusions about a target population of
such individuals. Yet some researchers do draw such
conclusions. We repeat, they should not.
TWO-STAGE RANDOM SAMPLING
It is often useful to combine cluster random sampling
with individual random sampling. This is accomplished
by two-stage random sampling. Rather than randomly
selecting 100 students from a population of 3,000 ninth-
graders located in 100 classes, the researcher might de-
cide to select 25 classes randomly from the population
of 100 classes and then randomly select 4 students from
each class. This is much less time-consuming than visit-
ing most of the 100 classes. Why would this be better
than
using all the students in four randomly selected classes?
Because four classes would be too few to ensure repre-
sentativeness, even though they were selected
randomly.
Figure 6.4 illustrates the different random sampling
methods we have discussed.
Nonrandom Sampling Methods
SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING
In systematic sampling, every nth individual in the
population list is selected for inclusion in the sample.
For example, in a population list of 5,000 names, to se-
lect a sample of 500, a researcher would select every
tenth name on the list until reaching a total of 500
names. Here is an example of this type of sampling:
The principal of a large middle school (grades 6–8)
with 1,000 students wants to know how students feel
about the new menu in the school cafeteria. She obtains
an alphabetical list of all students in the school and se-
lects every tenth student on the list to be in the sample.
98 PART 2 The Basics of Educational Research www.mhhe.com/fraenkel8e

Populations

E
A S ABCDE AB CD AB CD
B D T I U
25%
NO NO
C J H FGHIJ QR LM QR LM
P P
F Y X Q KLMNO
P G 50% EFG EFG
Z L W N
STU JK STU JK
V R M PQRST
K O HI HI
25%

Random CD
LM
sample of
clusters STU

Random
sample of
BD
individuals
H 25%
D QR
N FMOJ CD
P 50% C, L, T
L Y PS EFG
25%

Simple Stratified Cluster Two-stage

random random random random

Samples
Figure 6.4 Random Sampling Methods

To guard against bias, she puts the numbers 1 to 10 into
a hat and draws one out. It is a 3. So she selects the stu-
dents numbered 3, 13, 23, 33, 43, and so on until she
has a sample of 100 students to be interviewed.
The above method is technically known as system-
atic sampling with a random start. In addition, there
are two terms that are frequently used when referring to
systematic sampling. The sampling interval is the dis-
tance in the list between each of the individuals
selected for the sample. In the example given above, it
was 10. A simple formula to determine it is:
Population size
Desired sample size
The sampling ratio is the proportion of individuals
in the population that is selected for the sample. In the
example above, it was .10, or 10 percent. A simple way
to determine the sampling ratio is:
Sample size
Population size
There is a danger in systematic sampling that is
sometimes overlooked. If the population has been
ordered systematically—that is, if the arrangement of
individuals on the list is in some sort of pattern that
accidentally coincides with the sampling interval—a
markedly biased sample can result. This is sometimes
called periodicity. Suppose that the middle school
students in the preceding example had not been listed
alphabetically but rather by homeroom and that the
homeroom teachers had previously listed the students
in their rooms by grade point average, high to low.
That would mean that the better students would be at
the top of each homeroom list. Suppose also that each
homeroom had 30 students. If the principal began her
selection of every tenth student with the first or second
or third student on the list, her sample would consist
of the better students in the school rather than a repre-
sentation of the entire student body. (Do you see why?
Because in each homeroom, the poorest students
would be those who were numbered between 24 and
30, and they would never get chosen.)